Two Protegees
by Pleasing.the.Yaoi.Gods
Summary: Clarice Starling is is trying to track down Hannibal Lecter and she needs to talk to everyone he might have contact with, which means visiting the man who caught Lecter first: Will Graham


Author's Note: because I just really wanted Will to pop up at least once in the book Hannibal so this is my way of coping. Also Clarice is awesome, never forget that.

Clarice walked through the tall grass, bent by the ocean breeze from a few miles away. The property was scattered with various boat parts, mostly engines, and the smell of grease and dog was prevalent. None of this meant anything to her though as she took confident strides up to the wooden porch of a small house that looked weather beat and ready to start collapsing.

The porch steps creaked beneath her good shoes and she hoped that it was stable enough not to give under her. She knocked three times at the door, her knuckles not lingering on any of the knocks. There was no response as she waited for a good minute except for barking and so she knocked again, this time harder, hoping that it might wake up the inhabitant of the sad house should he be sleeping. It seemed to work as she could hear the sound of bottles falling onto the floor and a low oath. Uneven footsteps made their way to the door and Clarice took a step back, her face cool and controlled, ready for the face of Mr. Crawford's former protegee.

When the door opened Will Graham's right eye squinted into the soft afternoon sun and his gash of a mouth frowned. It sounded like there were several dogs crowded around him trying to sniff her. Clarice did not even flinch but she made no move to extend her hand either.

"Good afternoon, are you Will Graham?"

"Who's asking?" he asked in a scratchy voice that must have been pleasant when it was used regularly and not ailed by too much alcohol.

"I'm Special Agent Clarice Starling, Mr. Graham."

Graham let out dry chuckle. "I've heard about you, see you in the papers and on the news too. You're Hannibal's new toy." Clarice resisted the urge to frown at him and controlled her face to stay as passive as possible. "What do you want from me; tips on how to capture him? Sorry Starling but that was just dumb luck no matter what they tell you."

"I am here to inquire about any contact you might have had with Dr. Lecter."

"Why?"

"Because it might be useful in capturing him."

Graham sighed and moved aside to allow her into his house. "I doubt it but sure, whatever. Did Jack send you?"

"No. Mr. Crawford doesn't know I'm here."

"Hmmmm."

The inside of Graham's house was dirty and smelt of stale coho, dog, and bad aftershave. When Clarice stepped inside five dogs ambushed her, though none of them tried to jump on her, and they sniffed her eagerly, quickly deciding that she wasn't a threat to their master. The room was badly lit with curtains lazily drawn together but Graham reached over a dusty couch to pull them back and let in sunlight, the dust motes, disturbed in the process, excitedly dancing in the air. Empty and half empty bottles of Jack Daniels littered the floor and there was even some broken glass in the shadow of an ugly arm chair that was positioned directly in front of the door.

"So, Special Agent Clarice Starling, what do you want to know?"

Clarice did not sit down and Graham did not offer her a seat so they both remained standing while dust floated around them. She was glad that he got straight to the point, no inquiries about her career or the way that the media painted her. It must have been out of a mutual respect, that or he was just eager to get rid of her. The way he said her name bothered her a little bit though, as if he were both mocking her and slightly jealous, though of what she did not care to know.

"I understand that Dr. Lecter has sent you mail in the past, Christmas cards and the occasional birthday card."

"Yes."

"Have you received anything from him recently, anything since he escaped seven years ago."

"Sure. He still insists on sending me better cologne. I tried downing the first bottle but Dr. Bloom found me and..." Graham trailed off and gave Starling a bitter look. "Do you think maybe he's sending cryptic messages in the perfume?"

Clarice did not laugh and neither did Graham. They stared at one another, neither backing down. Clarice had heard that Graham disliked eye-contact but it didn't look like he was trying to empathize with her, just figure something out, but it didn't last more than five seconds and then Graham sighed and ran a hand along the botched scars of his left cheek. "Do you want to look at them? They're all underneath my bathroom sink."

"No thank you Mr. Graham. Did Dr. Lecter send you any notes along with the cologne?"

"Yes."

Clarice narrowed her eyebrows slightly. "May I see them?"

"No, I burned them."

Clarice gave a small frown as she observed the way he looked into the far off corner of the room where the least amount of light was. He was lying to her and she wanted to push him but she figured that he probably wouldn't budge. The rest of the world might think Graham broken but Clarice could still see a spark of defiance in him that she doubted would ever die no matter how many times someone cut him up.

"Have you had physical contact with Dr. Lecter since he escaped."

Graham flinched slightly, his hand unconsciously going to his abdomen where Clarice knew his scar from Lecter was. "No, and he won't be coming to see me. I no longer amuse him." His voice was pained but when he looked back in her general direction his good eye was narrowed and his slit even smaller.

"I've already been asked all of this."

"I just needed to make sure. Files get lost and information botched."

Graham snorted and walked over to his front door. Their meeting was over but Clarice wasn't done.

"Did you know he was in Italy?"

"That's what the papers say."

"I meant before the fiasco in Florence."

Graham shook his head, his grip on the open door tightening and when he spoke it sounded like venom. "If you're implying that I would withhold information that might put that monster back in prison or keep him from the chair don't. I want him caught more than any of you. Now goodbye Special Agent Clarice Starling and good luck with your monster hunt but don't get too disappointed when you can't catch him."

"Thank you for your time Mr. Graham."

Clarice walked past Graham and when she was next to him she took a deeper breath than usual, just to see if he smelled like something Lecter would prefer, but she was disappointed to find his aftershave cheap and stale along with alcohol and dog. The door shut behind Clarice and when she was halfway through the field to her car she glanced back one more time at the desolate place and wondered if Graham was indeed a dead end or not.


End file.
